We Will Not Go to Tuapse: From the Donets to the Oder with the Legion Wallonie and 5th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade ‘Wallonien’ 1942–45

By: Fernand Kaisergruber

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: A soldier with the German Army&’s Wallonian Legion chronicles his experience as a foreign volunteer for the Nazi war machine during WWII. A french-speaking Belgian, Fernand Kaisergruber volunteered to fight with the military force that occupied his country. His detailed chronicle of that time reads like a travelogue of the Eastern Front campaign. Until recently, very little was known of the tens of thousands of foreign nationals who fought with the Germans. Kaisergruber&’s book sheds light on issues of collaboration, the experiences and motives of volunteers, and the reactions they encountered in occupied countries. Kaisergruber draws upon his wartime diaries, those of his comrades, and his later work with them while secretary of their postwar veteran's league. Although unapologetic for his service, Khemakes no special claims for the German cause. He writes instead from his firsthand experience as a young man entering war for the first time. His narrative is full of observations of fellow soldiers, commanders, Russian civilians, and battlefields.